CM serves bhog, prays for state

East Singhbhum DC Himani Pande and Meera Munda at the pandal in Ghorabandha on Wednesday. Picture by Bhola Prasad

All roads led to the chief minister’s ancestral home in Ghorabandha on Wednesday.

Like on Kali Puja every year, chief minister Arjun Munda played the perfect host, personally serving bhog to visitors across all strata with gracious smiles and namaskars at the spacious shamiyana put up near his home. If Munda’s back reminded him of his May 9 copter crash, he did not wince even once.

Around 10,000 guests — ministers, corporate honchos, bureaucrats, cops, senior citizens and commoners — attended Kali Puja celebrations at the special 1000sqft venue, the Munda family tradition for over two decades. Like every year, mother Saira, brother Bhim Singh as well as other members of the Munda clan turned up for the occasion.

This time, the chief minister reached Jamshedpur on Monday evening — his second visit to his hometown after his narrow helicopter escape — and looked at ease while supervising hospitality arrangements.

He also bent numerous times to serve bhog — a delicious spread of khichdi, fried brinjal, mixed vegetables, chutney and kheer — in the traditional style. As a thoughtful concession, a special chair had kept ready at the shamiyana. Munda’s medical attendants prodded him to rest after every 15-20 minutes.